Abstract:In order to study the quality characteristics and differences in polyphenolic and carotenoid composition of kiwifruit fruits from different varieties，12 commercially available kiwifruit varieties were selected to determine the essential quality characteristics（hardness，soluble solids，and titratable acids）by direct measurement，and the contents of polyphenol and carotenoid components of the fruit were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography（HPLC）.Principal component analysis was conducted on the polyphenol and carotenoid composition of the different kiwifruit varieties.The results showed that there were significant differences in the quality characteristics，polyphenol fraction content，and carotenoid fraction content of the 12 kiwifruit fruit varieties.The fruit of Hayward was harder with a hardness of 1.10 kg/cm2，Cuixiang had a higher soluble solids content of 18.78%，Donghong had a higher titratable acid content of 1.40%，and Cuiyu had a higher vitamin C content of 207.90 mg/kg.In kiwifruit fruit，protocatechuic acid had the highest monomeric phenolic content and（-）-catechin had the lowest content；β-carotene had the highest monomeric carotenoid content and α-carotene had the lowest content.The kiwifruit fruit contained at least 23 polyphenols and six carotenoids.Among them，quinic acid and rutin were the two polyphenols with the highest contents，ranging between 74.09-304.16 mg/kg and 3.58-31.63 mg/kg，respectively.The most complex polyphenol composition was found in the four fruits of 'Jinmei，Cuixiang，Hayward and Miliang 1'，with at least 25 species.Among them，β-carotene was the carotenoid with the highest content，ranging between 1.06-41.57 mg/kg.A comprehensive evaluation of the 12 kiwifruit varieties using principal component analysis showed that the cumulative contribution of the four main component factors was 68.609%，reflecting most of the information on the quality of kiwifruit，with significant differences in the polyphenol and carotenoid contents between different kiwifruit varieties.